1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to boating equipment and accessories, and more particularly to an improved cargo rack apparatus for removable attachment to wakeboard boat towers, T-top boat towers, and the like.
2. Background Art
It is a truism among boating enthusiasts that there is never enough storage room on a boat. This is particularly true in wakeboarding and related water sports, where the boater may need a place to store wakeboards, surfboards, wakesurf boards, tubes, inflatables, kayaks, accessories, and/or other sport cargo.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,819 to Larson, et al. discloses a water sport towing apparatus. The aerial performance characteristics of a performer using a water sport implement such as a wakeboard is enhanced by a towing apparatus which includes vertical supports rigidly attached starboard and port side gunwales of the vessel at a location generally outboard an operator station. A frame including rigid U-shaped bridging supports transversely extends across the beam of the vessel. The frame is pivotally fitted to a forward portion of the vertical supports for rotation from an operating position to a stored position on the deck of the vessel. The U-shaped bridging supports extend substantially above the level of the operator station. One of the U-shaped bridging supports is readily removably attached to the vertical support. A ball assembly is carried by detachable ends of the frame, while a socket assembly is carried by the vertical support. A shaft extends through the socket and has one end threaded for engaging a threaded bore of the ball. An opposing end of the shaft includes a knob for manipulating the shaft into and out of engagement with the ball for readily removable attachment of the ball with the socket and thus the frame with the vertical supports. As a result, the frame can be rotated downwardly onto the deck of the vessel, reducing the elevation of the vessel for passing underneath a bridge or into a garage when being carried by a trailer. A tow rope is attached to a horizontally extending bridging support portion for towing the performer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,638 to Meeks describes a combination water ski and wake board rack. A rack for storing one or more pairs of water skis and wake boards includes one or more pairs of forks having parallel prongs extending from and coplanar with a base plate section. The pairs of forks are mounted on a support bar extending through an opening in the base plate section and may be positioned axially along and orientationally around the bar then clamped in the selected position such that each fork is aligned with its pair member. Each pair of forks preferably has three prongs for stowing one pair of skis or two prongs for storing a wakeboard. A strap is provided for each neighboring pair of each fork having one end attached to an end of one of said neighboring pair of prongs and another end hookable to an end of the neighboring prong so that the strap may be stretched over a water ski or wakeboard nested between neighboring prongs thereby securing a pair of skis or wakeboards.
United States Patent Application 20020053313 by Murphy, et al. teaches a shade cover assembly adapted to be carried on a tower above the cockpit area of a pleasure boat, said shade cover assembly including a generally opaque cover, a cover fixture adapted to be carried by said tower for containing the cover in a rolled up state when in the retracted position and a frame for tensioning said cover when said cover is withdrawn from said fixture and is extended in a generally horizontal position above the cockpit area.
The foregoing patents reflect the current state of the art of which the present inventor is aware. Reference to, and discussion of, these patents is intended to aid in discharging Applicant's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be relevant to the examination of claims to the present invention. However, it is respectfully submitted that none of the above-indicated patents disclose, teach, suggest, show, or otherwise render obvious, either singly or when considered in combination, the invention described and claimed herein.